Following the discovery of the horrific murder of Joanna Demafelis, a Filipina worker who moved to Kuwait in hopes of finding employment, Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has extended an invitation to return to the Philippines to any and all Filipino workers in Kuwait. This news comes in the wake of years of abuse accusations and corresponding evidence of the Gulf states’ violations of migrant workers’ human rights. President Duterte expressed exasperation with the conditions to which his compatriots have been subjected abroad, with various government officials urging the Kuwaiti government to intervene and guarantee at least basic human rights to migrant workers within their borders. With thousands of Filipinos in Kuwait rushing to get their travel documents and flights arranged and the ever-growing number of Filipinos working abroad, the issue of the abuse of migrant workers has been steadily escalating.
See Joshua Berlinger and Jinky Jorgio, CNN, February 13, 2018